1G Weekly News
March 20th, 2016
Notes and Updates
Dear Parents,
Thanks to everyone who helped out at the field trip today. It was a great success and the kids had a blast. Any parents if you have photos please send them my way so we can add them to our google drive folder. Also in the google folder are new unit letters for science, math, and writing. Make sure to check out tinyurl.com/skeane1g.
Last week In reading, we continued to work with partners and practicing coaching. Students would make sure they could help their partner by flipping the sound, chunking the word, or finding a part they know. Also we reviewed how to make connections to stories and write them down. They focused on the difference between beginning of the year connections, which were more literal and now connections which help us understand the story in a deeper manner.
In writing, finished their opinion letters by revising, editing, and publishing. When they were revising they worked on adding stronger verbs and adjectives. When they were editing they worked on Capital letters and punctuation. Finally for publishing students got to send one letter to a person of their choosing by filling all the information out on the envelope and delivering the letter.
In math, students finished their unit on measurement. We reviewed the rules of measuring, practiced measuring and worked on data collection and graphing. Students grasped the idea of graphing ver quickly.
In science, students did their final project for our plants and animal unit. Students created a book on book creator describing the different information they learned about their animal. Specifically, they wrote how their animal moves, what parts their animal eats with, and what protective covering their animal had.
Scroll down to read about what we will be learning next week and important dates and information for next week.
Cheers,
Shannon Keane
Special Announcements
NO Homework
Due to spring break we will not be having homework this week or the week we come back so enjoy your holiday!
Library Used Book Sale
Once again it is time for our library annual used book sale. Beginning April 10th, we will accept any gently used books (clean, no pages missing) for this annual sale. The sale will be April 26, 27, and 28, including the Student-led Conferences. For every donation of three books, you will receive a coupon for one free used book.
Dragon Bands
Dear Parents,
Over the past few months, we have been keeping track of the amount of Dragon Wristbands that are coming back to us, broken. We have also been looking closely at the normal wear and tear of the wristbands and the actual damage that is occurring.
Closer inspection of the broken wristbands and observation in the classroom has revealed that a high amount of wristbands are being intentionally damaged. This happens when a student has been playing with it, chewing/biting it, picking at the back of the wristband where the magnetic disk is and removing it, cutting it with the clasp part of a lanier, cutting it with scissors, picking the top part of the wristband so that the magnetic disk pops out, stretching it until it snaps, continually snapping it or pulling it, playing with it with friends – a ‘tug of war’ type of scenario, etc.
With the sheer amount coming back to us damaged in this way, we have come to the decision to start charging QR 50.00 to the student’s Dragon Wristband account for a replacement. Of course, we will pre-inspect all bands prior to issuance to verify no faulty or material design flaw is present that has contributed to the wristband being torn or broken. And of course, if a wristband has simply stopped working, the wristband will be replaced at no charge.
The Dragon Wristband needs to be regarded and treated as school property – the same as a library book or school-issued computer/camera, etc. Students have been issued a first wristband at no charge and are expected to treat it with the same care as a library book or classroom property. We would like to ask you, as parents, to have a conversation with your child about the importance of taking care of their Dragon Wristband.
Thank you for your kind cooperation and understanding with this matter.
New Math Resources
Our Math Coordinator, Carol Little, has been working to develop a site to house parent resources for math. In particular, it has the videos, parent packet, and parent packet answers for the parent sessions she has been hosting. She also has posted parent strategy letters for the individual units and a packet of Common Core aligned fluency games.
This is a new site and definitely is a work in progress. Mrs. Little started the site in January and is working forward with the units as we complete them. Therefore, materials from Units 1 and 2 may not be available until later this year. In addition, videos can be a little tricky to upload and may or may not always work! Here is the link to that site.
Snack
This is just a reminder to please send students with a snack everyday as they are not allowed to buy snack. We recently have had a few students without snacks and it is a long morning before lunch. Also please make sure to send healthy snacks. We have asked a few students not to eat the sweets until they get home. As a school we teach healthy choices and snack is a good way to reinforce the message to your child.
Lower Elementary Math Parent Drop-in
Our Math Coordinator, Mrs. Carol Little will be holding a Lower Elementary parent drop in / office hour every Wednesday from 2:00 – 3:00pm. Mrs. Little will be available at this time every week to assist parents who need further information about our Math program or who would like help / suggestions with how to support their children at home. It will be held in Ms. Mindy Martin’s office.
Upcoming Dates
March 25 to April 4th- Spring Break
A Peek at the Week Ahead
Reading
- Thinking about reading using post its
- Rereading to understand
Writing
- Read poems
- What is the difference between a poem and a story?
- Look at ordinary objects in a new way with a poet's eye
Math
New Unit: Geometry
- Introduce 2D and 3D shapes
- Discuss shape attributes
- Learn to communicate using shape names and attributes
Science
New Unit: Matter
- Identifying solids and liquids
- Describing attributes of solids
Word Study
Whole Child
Shannon Keane
Email: skeane@asd.edu.qa